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and explosive as this. His heart felt as though it were trying to beat its way free of his
chest.
Crewe breathed a tired chuckle. Ethan, sweetheart, we who are about to die
salute you. You almost did me in and I haven t touched you yet. God, I can t wait until
tomorrow.
He finished his shower, dried himself off and collapsed into bed with a happy
smile on his lips.
Chapter Three
Ethan spent the day puttering around the house. He called his usual mechanic s
garage and asked them to pick up his car. A couple of hours later he learned the
problem was nothing more than the car needing a new battery. Breathing a sigh of
relief, Ethan called a taxi, picked up his car and stopped to do some grocery shopping.
Deprived of his goodies the night before due to Crewe s arrival, Ethan added
hotdogs, malted milk balls and chips to the more mundane selections of bread and
milk. With only himself to cook for, he wasn t inclined to do anything fancy. Even when
all three brothers were home, only occasionally did someone cook a formal meal.
Though they all knew how due to their mother s influence, most of the time they just
foraged for themselves. There were a lot of meals that consisted of soup, sandwiches or
some type of frozen dinner.
Ethan s lunch consisted of hotdogs, chips, some dill pickle slices and a handful of
malted milk balls. It was consumed in front of the television where he watched a couple
of crime scene investigation shows he d taped earlier in the week. The only thing that
gave him pause was the coroner s examination of a victim who had drowned and was
in the water for some time. Averting his eyes, Ethan refrained from taking another bite
of his sandwich until that scene was finished.
After lunch he was about to clean up his dirty dishes when the phone rang. He
picked up the portable that hung on the kitchen wall by the doorway. Hello?
Ethan. It s Nick.
Hey, Nick! How goes it in Chicago?
Good. In fact better than good. The client was so impressed with the new
security system that he recommended me to a friend. I ve got another job. I ll be flying
out to Syracuse first thing in the morning.
Kate Steele Hoosier Werewolf 1: Midnight Howl - 32 -
New York?
That s the place.
Wow, that s great. Your reputation s growing.
Yep, business is booming. You doing all right? Holding down the fort?
Yeah, not bad. Ethan shuffled his feet and walked to the kitchen window to
look outside.
What s wrong?
What makes you think something s wrong?
I can hear it in your voice. Spill it, bro.
Ethan smiled. Okay, bro. My car died last night and I had to walk home.
Jeez, that must have been fun. Why didn t you call a cab? Didn t you freeze
your ass off?
Well, yeah, I did and I thought about calling a cab but I forgot my cell phone.
I d have had to walk five blocks out of my way to the nearest pay phone so I just
decided to walk. It turned out all right though. I ran into Crewe Jackson at the mini-
mart. He gave me a ride the rest of the way home.
Crewe Jackson? Man, I haven t seen him in a long time. What s he doing in
town? Visiting the folks?
No, actually he s moved back. His parents retired and are traveling or
something. They gave him their house. He s been back about six months he said. He s a
martial arts instructor and he s got his own dojo. I, uh, I m going over there tonight.
There was a long pause during which Ethan scrunched his eyes closed and
waited.
You re going to a dojo?
Yeah.
Why?
Because Crewe asked me to?
Ethan, you hate physical stuff. I couldn t get you to so much as pick up a barbell
and now you re going to go train in martial arts?
Kate Steele Hoosier Werewolf 1: Midnight Howl - 33 -
I didn t say that.
Then why are you going?
I, um& I m not really sure.
Another long pause fell between them and Ethan waited, barely breathing.
Nick s next comment surprised him.
You know, there s something I ve wanted to talk to you about for a long time
now. Fuck. I wish I wasn t headed to Syracuse, but I ve already accepted the job. You
would pick now to break out of your shell. Listen, Ethan. Whatever s going on between
you and Crewe, you be damned careful, you hear me? As far as I know Crewe Jackson
is as straight as an arrow. I don t want you to get your hopes up and get hurt.
Ethan swallowed his shock. Heart racing, he managed to stutter, I do& don t
know what you mean.
Oh, I think you do. I should have told you this a long time ago. Don t be
ashamed of who you are. I m not and neither is Dustin. There s more to it than that, but
I don t want to get into it over the phone. When I get back, I m going to get Dust to
come home for a weekend. I think it s high time the three of us had a talk.
Talk about what?
You really want me to spell it out for you, Ethan? I can, you know. Right here,
right now if that s what you want.
No! I think I ll wait.
Nick chuckled. Good choice. I gotta go. I ve got a few errands to run, then I m
having dinner with Info System s head of security.
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